‘Wonder Woman’ Short Film Raises Some Important Questions

Published 2 years ago
by
Andrew Dyce
, Updated May 28th, 2014 at 4:35 pm,

Fans of Wonder Womanhave no doubt seen the most recent fan-made short/trailer, depicting the Amazonian princess taking on Nazis during World War II. Filmed as a showcase for the directorial skills of stuntmant-turned-director Jesse V. Johnson (The Package) – and NOT a WW movie – the trailer features Nina Bergman (The Wayshower) as the titular superheroine.

While viewers have been largely polarized over the short, we’re more interested in the questions this live-action take on Wonder Woman raises. And perhaps more importantly, which ones it answers.

As far as fan-made films go, the production value and actors are easy to appreciate, and far better than these kinds of projects generally sport. We don’t know exactly why the WWII setting was chosen, but Timothy V. Murphy (Sons of Anarchy, The Lone Ranger) plays a Nazi officer exceedingly well, and Peter Stormare again proves that if a camera is rolling somewhere in the world, there’s a good chance he’s in front of it playing a bad guy.

Johnson has already directed a handful of features, so what this trailer will do for his prospects is hard to gauge (after all, even the most faithful and inspired short films don’t guarantee work), and Bergman carries off the combat well enough, being asked to do little else but punch, kick and throw – all while looking menacing.

The fight choreography or style isn’t the real problem (we’ve seen cheesier). And while many like to attack any Wonder Woman costume as ridiculous or sexist, we’ve seen plenty that insulted our intelligence much more than this version. That being said, this live-action footage does perfectly illustrate the point that short shorts and a tube top just can’t cut it in today’s world, practically or dramatically. We’d point to the “New 52” and “Odyssey” costumes for something a bit more grounded (and intriguingly, ultimately abandoned).

The problems aren’t just in finding the right outfit, or an actress that can pull off Diana’s physical strength. It’s obviously hard to take a Wonder Woman of Bergman’s height and build (5’7″) seriously – but there’s no reason to think that a simply taller, broader or fitter actress would make the fight sequences seen in this short more compelling, meaningful or any less cheesy. We made a list of actress who could play the next Wonder Woman, and their muscle mass was barely a part of why we think they’d work.

What this short film proves is that a successful live-action Wonder Woman isn’t one that simply hits people – that’s not what spawned the character, nor what helped her last. Honestly, in a world of superheroes and superheroines blessed with super-strength and colorful costumes, what reason is there to reduce Wonder Woman to yet another? She is strong, to be sure, and can hold her own in a fight – but who can’t in the world of superhero movies? As a crowned princess from a bygone era and demigod raised to lead a matriarchy, her strength, when all things are considered, is actually not what defines her alongside Superman and Batman.

When actresses talk of Wonder Woman’s need to be a role model for women, it’s safe to assume they’re not referring to instruction on how to throw a punch, but what it means for a woman to be powerful and just in the same manner as Supes or Bats (or at the very least, show what that even looks like in today’s world).

Luckily, Warner Bros. and DC Comics seem to agree. Brian Azzarello’s current run on “Wonder Woman” has delved head-first into Greek mythology (a realm unavailable to most other characters) and the planned Amazon TV series seems more focused on the origin of Diana than her physicality, going by the audition scenes and alleged frontrunner for the part.

Whether DC or Warner Bros. ever get around to making a Wonder Woman movie – or Justice League for that matter - we don’t know if they’ll closely follow Lauren Montgomery’s Wonder Woman animated film or not, but they would be wise to take note. Montgomery had the guts to show that Diana’s isolation didn’t make her laughable, merely complicated. Batman is defined by angst and uncertainty, and portraying a woman in the same lens doesn’t have to be insulting or offensive.

There’s no question that the action of such a blockbuster movie will need to be big, and not ‘up close and personal’ as some might hope. Seeing Superman punch bad guys would get boring after a few seconds, so a musclebound actress doing the same is not a recipe for success (in our humble opinion). And definitely not if it means downplaying the part of her character and story that’s actually, you know, interesting.

What do you think of this Wonder Woman live-action short? Does it prove what will and won’t work for a full-length movie as it does for us, or do you think this is the path to success? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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JA 2 years ago

Some characters should just stay in the comic realm. This is one of them.

They’re using it to start a discussion of how Wonder Woman can, or can’t, be brought to the screen. The video is fairly high production, the girl looks superficially like Wonder Woman. What do people think?

i think someone could make this into an exceptional movie with the right storyline written and a good budget and if they cast an unknown yet perfectly fitting actor to play wonder woman, it just needs some people with the brains to make it work and also people who know the character from the comic

Don’t be confused. Diana appeared first. Thor is the adaptation of Wonder Woman and Superman. While The Sentry may be more Superman’s counterpart, Thor is meant to be his rival, but given a twist much Like Wonder Woman’s.

I think you are the one confusing JC’s comment actually. I think he was just comparing the challenge in bringing Diana to the big screen being DC’s version of the same challenge Marvel had in bringing Thor to the screen; with both being rooted in mythology and not mapping very well to the ‘real-world’ believability approach that ppl associate with the more successful DC movies (Bats and Supes).

I really hope the overly serious people trying to advocate the sensibility of altering Wonder Womans origins just for the sake of “fitting in” with Nolan’s tone for Batman aren’t correct. Making her a g****** Kryptonian is idiocy of the highest order. It’s all fantasy for crying out loud… men don’t really strap themselves into Batlike armor after being orphaned and taking a crash course in being an American ninja 20 years later. Men don’t really have their backs broken and then re-hab themselves for a few months in a third-world prison enough to be able to make a leap to freedom that only one other 75 pound little girl was ever able to do. And much as I’d like to believe in otherworldly life… I’m not expecting a kid in Kansas to haul a bus full of school kids out of a lake.

I also wildly disagree with some comments from SR about Diana’s updated origin of being the daughter of Zeus being more sensible or “magical” than being brought to life from sand and clay. Being granted life from inert material seems pretty gosh darn magical and fantastical to me.

Just because the more recent mythology tinged movies like Clash and Wrath of the Titans sort of sucked, doesn’t mean some thought, effort, and TALENT can’t be brought to the table to make a traditional Wonder Woman origin work on film.

Makemine is right on with all of that. I get the whole “grounded in the real world” Nolan approach, but you could apply that approach literally. Everyone’s always going off about how they like Batman cause he doesn’t have powers. “He’s just a normal human, anyone could do what he does.” No, they couldn’t! Not any of it! Somewhere out there our own real world there’s some guy, or girl, who’s the closest thing this world’s got to the Batman of comics or the movies. But that just means closer than anyone else. Pick whatever you like, the tech, the violence he survives, the skills he wields and how he employs them. The simple fact that nobody wearing a suit with anything that’s flourescent yellow on it is hiding in the shadows from anybody, never mind Robin. The endurance and stamina to do what he does, on a routine, regular basis. Least the Daredevil movie got one thing right; the guy was hopped up on all sorts of painkillers. Nothing the Batman does is normal world guy stuff. Not a bit of it.

She could use some character. It would be interesting if they played up the harsher warrior aspects of her.

I could envision a scene where Superman is being his boyscout self and going easy on a bunch of baddies and he comes upon Wonder Woman with a a pile of broken bloody bodies around her. Just to contrast her from Supes.

I have been reading some of the previous posts and more are leaning towards never having a Wonder Woman movie at all. I am fine with this but I was also against a Thor movie. Yet Thor was my favorite Avenger of all. Wonder Woman has such a great potential that I hate to see it go to waste. If Wonder Woman’s suit was re imagined in a way similar to Catwoman in the Dark Knight Rises would this be better or worse? Personally I like tight and concealed as apposed to just plain revealing.

Another thing is that Wonder Woman doesn’t have such a cool storyline like the rest of the heroes so I would think Warner Bros. would have to change her back story a bit. Anyways considering the technical and functional changes to the idea of a Wonder Woman movie would you want to see it?

As far as her costume, maybe first forget about girls and boys, what’s on display, and what’s hot, and start with functional as it pertains to the character. She’s Wonder Woman after all, so the costumes weight wouldn’t be a factor, she could be wearing a lead pants suit and the weight wouldn’t be an issue for her. Nor does she need to strip down to the least amount of clothing so it doesn’t hinder what’s required of her physically. More important would be a costume that’s designed to withstand her being in it. Something tight and binding would probably just rip apart the first time she full-on kicks someone upside the head. And the problem with all that cleavage display is in a fight that top opening makes for a pretty convenient grab handle. Yeah, it’s gotta look good in the end, but everything I’ve seen about her shows her as being unconcerned about appearing attractive to men. She’s a warrior, first and foremost. She should just be attractive, but not in a way that clearly requires 2 hours of facetime with the mirror in the bathroom every morning.

I was just browsing DVDs, noting all of the ancient Greek/Roman or mythologically-based films of the past decade or so, Clash of the Titans, Troy, Alexander, Beowulf, etc. So there is definitely a precedent for that. Also, there is a precedent for modern superhero films doing well. With Wonder Woman, the trick is interfacing the myth with a modern setting. Thor did that wonderfully in my opinion, but Diana is probably a tougher character still, since there is not the same vein of science fiction to help bridge it all together. But whatever they do, write a seriously good screenplay, give her a good functional costume, and don’t play it all for laughs. There are so many of us who want this to happen.

They’d have to ask a woman to look strong and muscular but still feminine and soft, and look great in a one piece bathing suit over a multi-movie, multi-year (probably ten at least) period. Having kids would be out of the question. Fans would be rudely complaining if the actress gained weight, or kept it off but became to thin or muscular. That’s what I see happening.

The costume has to be changed, otherwise it’s an impossible role. Fans need to come down to reality on this one. Some of the actresses commonly mentioned are already pushing 40.

(I’m assuming that her backstory will involve greek myth and that shes part of the eventual JLA movie/shared universe which well is a pretty safe bet.)

- being on an island out off time or more acurately, seperated/isolation from humanity, these maintained their culture etc. so spartan-like warrior women. Whatever events force her to ome to the morsern world her initial outfit should definitly be faithful to the culture she comes from, maybe have hints of blue or re but thats it. Were talkin leather, some metal pieces (not shiny chrome crap, but dull/flat gold/or steel) that serve an actual function for protection ei: armor and not purely boob decoration.

-over time, being expose to the modern world and to new technologies, materials etc she could easily upgrade/evolve her outfit to fit in with the heroes of the day. If superman is the cornerstone she could consciously seek to emulate his colors and te reason she has a blue/red outfit and not because its “america’s colors”. Afterall shes a warrior, soliers dress alike, i supes is the general it makes sense shes follow his lead so that she can be identified by people around the globe as being in league with him. As far as her suit evolution from spartan warrior to a more traditional superhero look. Again, being a warrior, she would do so because it serves a purpose, ei: lighter/stronger materials, superior from/function. As a warrior, she would naturally want the best thats out there, so a simple case could be made for her to want to modernise it over time.

- lastly a better explanation of her power level would need to be explained. I think the new 52 have her as zeus love child, so a female version of hercules which I think is perfect.

Eerybody says a WW would be hard or near impossible to make but I jut dont see it. Forget the whole crappy sexualised tv show look, get past that treat/visualise her as a tough as steel warrior, the female equivalent of heracles, that doesnt take s*** from no one, that doesnt hve self doubt or illusions of weakness and tell me that I wouldnt be awesome to see on screen. Get a strong actress both in ability and physical presence, get someone that look like she could actually kick ass, treat the material seriously and this would be great.

Like the modernization idea. I had a similare idea. I always envisioned that if they modernize teh story for a film it is just an isolated island were Spartan women relocated too thousands of years ago and just run the native men and keep them as domesticated servants. The women serve as warriors, soldiers, leaders, in a very small community.

You make a great point, my only disagreement is that here armor was made by the Gods. So while I agree it should be culturally accurate, I think it should have it’s own level of flair and shine because it is not earthly made.

I think it just goes to show you that no matter what, Wonder Woman has big issues when trying to be translated successfully to the cinema. The character and persona are far too constraining to allow for much flexibility. The character is constantly being reimagined (or rebooted to use a more pejorative term) but every iteration never comes off fully satisfactorily. If DC (or any comic book company) were allowed to create their own female superhero, I don’t think anyone would have used the Wonder Woman template. But, due to many reasons, DC and Warner Bros. have to use the name Wonder Woman and the general concept. But if they can stray as far as possible from the traditionally known stories, I’m sure they would. Unfortunately, they would probably creating a character so completely different from Wonder Woman as to be Wonder Woman in name only. For example, it’s the same thing as Batman. If someone were to really do a convincing Batman-like anti-hero/vigilante, he’d be more like Punisher than Batman.

Who she is and where she comes from are the biggest hurdles here. As some people here have stated, (and sadly there is a lot of truth to this)- it’s not like Wonder Woman was created with all kinds of thought and logic going into her back-story to make her some sort of complex and compelling character. She was created for 2 reasons – 1. eye candy 2. an answer to the then question back in the 40s – “If there is a Superman how come there is no Superwoman?
Trying to “modernize” her story as well as the stories of the other members of Justice League is a logistical nightmare.

Creation
On October 25, 1940, an interview was conducted by former student Olive Byrne (under the pseudonym ‘Olive Richard’) and published in The Family Circle, titled “Don’t Laugh at the Comics.” Marston described in the article that he saw in the “great educational potential” of comic books. A follow-up article was published two years later in 1942. This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an Educational Consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications, two of the companies that would later merge to form DC Comics.
In the early 1940s, the DC Comics line was dominated by super-power endowed male characters such as the Green Lantern, Superman (its flagship character), as well as Batmanwho became known for his high tech gadgets. According to the Fall 2001 issue of the Boston University alumni magazine, it was Marston’s wife Elizabeth’s idea to create a female superhero. Marston was struck by an idea for a new kind of superhero; one who would triumph not with fists or firepower, but with love. “Fine,” said Elizabeth. “But make her a woman.”
Marston introduced the idea to Max Gaines, co-founder with Jack Liebowitz of All-American Publications. Given the go-ahead, Marston developed Wonder Woman, basing her character on both Elizabeth and Olive Byrne, to be the model of a conventional, liberated, powerful modern woman. Marston’s pseudonym, Charles Moulton, combined his own and Gaines’ middle names.
In a 1943 issue of “The American Scholar”, Marston wrote: “Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don’t want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women’s strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.”

Development
Marston intended his character, which he called Suprema, to be “tender, submissive, peaceloving as good women are,” combining “all the strength of a Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.” His character was a native of an all-female utopia who became a crime-fighting U.S. government agent, using her superhuman strength and agility, and her ability to force villains to tell the truth by binding them with her magic lasso. Her appearance, including her heavy silver bracelets (which she used to deflect bullets), was based somewhat on Olive Byrne.
Editor Sheldon Mayer replaced the name “Suprema” with “Wonder Woman”, and the character made her debut in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941). The character next appeared in Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942), and six months later, Wonder Woman #1 debuted. Except for four months in 2006, the series has been in print ever since, and it now appears bi-monthly. The stories were initially written by Marston and illustrated by newspaper artist Harry Peter. During his life Marston had written many articles and books on psychological topics, but his last six years of writing were devoted to his comics creation.
William Moulton Marston died of cancer on May 2, 1947 in Rye, New York, seven days shy of his 54th birthday. After his death, Elizabeth and Olive continued to live together until Olive’s death in the late 1980s; Elizabeth died in 1993, aged 100. In 1985, Marston was posthumously named as one of the honorees by DC Comics in the company’s 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great.[7]

Themes
Marston’s “Wonder Woman” is an early example of bondage themes that were entering popular culture in the 1930s. Physical submission appears again and again throughout Marston’s comics work, with Wonder Woman and her criminal opponents frequently being tied up or otherwise restrained, and her Amazonian friends engaging in frequent wrestling and bondage play. These elements were softened by later writers of the series, who dropped such characters as the Nazi-like blond female slaver Eviless completely, despite her having formed the original Villany Inc. of WW’s enemies (in Wonder Woman #28, the last by Marston).
Though Marston had described female nature as submissive, in his other writings and interviews] he referred to submission as a noble practice and did not shy away from the sexual implications, saying:
“The only hope for peace is to teach people who are full of pep and unbound force to enjoy being bound… Only when the control of self by others is more pleasant than the unbound assertion of self in human relationships can we hope for a stable, peaceful human society… Giving to others, being controlled by them, submitting to other people cannot possibly be enjoyable without a strong erotic element”. [8]
About male readers, he later wrote: “Give them an alluring woman stronger than themselves to submit to, and they’ll be proud to become her willing slaves!”
Marston combined these themes with others, including restorative and transformative justice, rehabilitation, regret and its role in civilization, mind control used in a temporary way for good. These appeared often in his depiction of the near-ideal Amazon civilization of Paradise Island, and especially its Transformation Island penal colony, which played a central role in many stories, and was the “loving” alternative to retributive justice of the world run by men. These themes are particularly evident in his last story, in which prisoners freed by Eviless, who have responded to Amazon rehabilitation, stop her and restore the Amazons to power.
Some of these themes continued on in Silver Age characters who may have been influenced by Marston, notably Saturn Girl and Saturn Queen, who (like Eviless and her female army) are also from Saturn, also clad in tight dark red bodysuits, also blond or red-haired, and also have telepathic powers . Stories involving the latter have been especially focused on the emotions involved in changing sides from evil to good, or the use of power over minds even to do good. Wonder Woman’s golden lasso and Girdle of Venus in particular were the focus of many of the early stories, and have the same capability to control people for good in the short term that Transformation Island offered in the longer term.

NOTE: Marston also had an open marriage with his wife, Elizabeth, and Olive. The depth of his psychosexual eccentricities (and his relationship with these two women) would make for an intriguing film in itself.

The idea that Wonder Woman cannot be translated into a great iconic film is completely ludicrous. I GUARANTEE you that it can and has been done(at least by fan fiction writers). I happen to have read a brilliant unpublished summarized re-imagining of the character that blends in perfectly with Superman and even Green Lantern. The fan video above PROVES that if there is even a moderate amount of care taken for the character it will at least be entertaining. I did not like the fact that it was set during World War II,did not showcase any “super powers” and that the outfit was dated for a more sexist period. But that stated it was a decent try and seems MUCH (read vastly) better than David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman TV show pilot. Warner Brother’s has no excuse with even Josh Whedon expressing his frustration that the studio did not believe in Wonder Woman when it was his project. I think that if there is a successful “grounded in reality” Man of Steel movie…it will lead to the same for Wonder Woman and Green Lantern (and YES!… as I stated before it absolutely can be done). I should add that even with Thor – a successful superhero film that dealt with the same issues – I don’t even think that translation to film was as good as it could have been. Wonder Woman’s could be much better.

I fail to see how you can use the words “grounded in reality” when referencing a character with origin stories that have had her made out of clay or the direct offspring of Greek mythological beings.
That’s the whole problem here… as soon as you “ground Wonder Woman to reality” you now have a character that’s just Wonder Woman by name.

Not true…Wonder Woman’s origin story has changed over the years. In fact the current “New 52″ has her the biological daughter of Zeus. What I mean by grounding something in reality are to me three things: 1) respecting the laws of nature and offering an explanation (mostly scientific) as to why a characterseems to do things beyond normal human ability. So it is no longer enough to say Wonder Woman’s powers are magic; 2)have logical reasons as to WHY characters are motivated to do the things they do that reflect how a normal people would respond to the situation; for example…why does Wonder Woman hate the Nazi’s… did they do something to her people… are they a threat to the Amazons. I have no idea and most Wonder Woman stories are lazy in that regard and just want people to accept that she fights against them I presume for the hell of it; and 3) have the character reflect internal conflict and growth. This is another area where I think Wonder Woman stories have lacked real development. By contrast if you take the Dark Knight series. I know how Batman’s gadgets work (even if farfetched) there is an attempt at making it realistic; I know WHY he fights crime and the journey he took to become the type of crime fighter he is (I even know why he dresses up as a bat); and 3) his character grows throughout the series such as him discussing a time when he can leave Batman behind, compromising his beliefs in the truth because people need to have their “faith rewarded.” Thus you get a great movie. You absolutely have to change the back-story of Wonder Woman and moreso Green Lantern but there are clever ways in which to do it where what you wind up with is ever bit in the spirit of the character people have grown to love.

ie. Why can’t even the Hulk lift it? How can it call and direct lightning? How does it judge who is worthy based on a hand-grip? etc.
Isn’t Thor (nearly) immortal and indestructible? If the Norse Gods are really an advanced race of aliens with ‘near’ magical powers, why can’t we put Diana, possible daughter of Zeus (or chosen Priestess or whatever) into the same category?

I for one…I think they did a POOR job of explaining Thor to audiences. But my point was THEY TRIED. The story goes that he is not a “god” but from another dimension but was worshiped as Gods and that magic and science are the same where he is from. I thought it was flimsy and quite frankly is the reason a movie like Thor will never see dark Knight box office numbers.

So here is why you can’t put Diana in the same category…She is among the elite in terms of Superheroes. Thor did about as well as Superman Returns when adjusted for inflation and with the benefit of 3d and higher ticket prices. Superman Returns was considered a mild hit and Thor was part set up for the Avengers. I think WB unfairly wants Wonder Woman to have Dark Knight type receipts…otherwise why not just reboot the Dark Knight. So Wonder Woman need to have an iconic film and in order to do that it has to embrace realism more than Thor did which I still think is possible.

I disagree slightly. I agree about your comments on Thor, however, where I think it failed was it’s colerfulness. It was too bright and whimsical. Wonder Woman, if portrayed that way, would tank, I give you that.

However, she can be portrayed as made by magic and blessed with powers of the Greek Pantheon. Or she can be portrayed as the daughter of Zeus. The thing writers will have to remember is the realism they will have to bring in. Look at all of the Greek mythology movies that are out. Wrath of the Titans was realistic to some degree–or at least believable for it’s context.

If they portray Themyscira, and the Gods, it does not need to be overdone like a comic story, but like a Greek society with a Greek Pantheon. Then when she enters man’s world and they stare in wonder (no pun intended), they can deal with her coping with man’s society. She has as much complexity in inner personality, as Superman does, that is why the two understand each other so well. They have a lot to work with. Then when they bring the Greek Gods into the modern World, say someone like ares, the do not need to be over the top, But more like they were in Wrath of the tightens.

Sure those Gods were powerful, but they were Gods. Bring the mythology to the real world, not the comic book flare. That is where Thor failed. They brought a bad take to the real world. Whether he is a God or not, his origin could have been more toned down and believable, more meaningful. That is why Avengers did so well. Ironman and Hulk were Believable. Thor and Loki were considered as near Gods, and the war was fought without the glitz and flair of Asgard.

I think the problem with the mythology of Wonder Woman is not a problem by itself. It is a problem however to have BOTH Greek gods AND alien beings such as in Green Lanterns world. Since both Superman and Green Lantern’s point to an alien world then you should recast the “Greek gods” as actually an alien race that people worshiped as Gods. just like Thor but i would do more to base it on real science such as what they do in the Star Trek Universe.

The trouble here is that Wonder Woman’s powers are magic Given to her at “birth” by the Gods. Superman’s powers are perhaps the hardest to explain mainly because there is no magic involved; he just takes in solar energy and suddenly has powers. Some of them are conceivable due to his home world, but then actually flying and x-ray vision and heat vision are the least likely of his powers.

Your other points are valid enough. The best way to Bring Wonder Woman in is to bring her in as a super person and let her grow into the icon she is meant to be. So what her powers are magical and come from greek gods, Work it to the best of your ability and make that world real enough. DCU has Gods, Aliens, and God-like Aliens, and that doesn’t detract from it. One battle may be against lex Luthor and Joker, another against Darkseid, while one more may be Ares and half the Greek pantheon. As long as it’s not bright, colorful and cheesy like thor than it’s fine.

Keep the dialogue serious and believable, give the characters motives, and keep the color scheme toned down [as well as the costumes] and you can make Zeus, Hera, Ares,Poseidon, Hephaestus, even Hades, come to life in the same way we can with Superman and other great films like Wrath of the Titans.

The foremost challenge in “translating” Wonder Woman is her mythology. Unlike that of Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern, WW is earthbound yet not grounded; given her non-linear lineage — belonging to another time and place — is further complicated (and compounded) by many convoluted, multiple versions of same.

Solution: DC Comics publish a fresh origin story that will settle once and for all her “mythology”; who this woman is, where she comes from and sort out her powers, tropes and trappings.

NOTE: The publisher (and thereby Warner Bros.) is stuck with the tiara, the flesh-baring uniform, and that band of colors…without which, it’s not Wonder Woman.

OPINION: Her “power” properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose; it is the strength required to bring about justice.

Its very simple, The New 52 outfit would easily work in live action better than the classic outfit. Problem solved.

The origin story provides enough depth for the character to be properly introduced, understood and developed – The WW animated movie is brilliant, take points from that. Pretty obvious.

If your going to Introduce WW into a JL film, then I can see maybe looking into what the DC Universe Online did. The time travel aspect of it with Brainiac….that way the JL are already together when the movie starts, maybe minus a reluctant Batman….who obviously is going to be finding out everything about the JL, in which case a few origin stories could be explained that way. Also, you could set it so the JL are already together….but for a very short period of time, so with decent writing you could set up some dialogue so that the WW story is explained, for the purpose of other characters as well as the audience.

There are ways around introducing any character, with enough thought and effort going into a script….along with proper knowledge of a chracter, you can make anything work. I dont think its as difficult as some people are suggesting, although I will concede WW is probably one of the more challenging members of the JL to do at first…once you have explained where she is from, why she is here etc etc…she is no more difficult to write and portray than any other DC character really.

You are completely right. Look at what Marvel did with Hawkeye and Black Widow. Enough of their story was given in the movie so that they are relevant, but we don’t need to fear any approach to her. Just look at what works, and figure out how to bring it into live action. her story is no harder than Superman’s once you try to tell a good story regardless of the overly attached fans. Nolan did that with his trilogy. He took a fair amount of creative license to bring HIS interpretation of batman to life, and in the end he did not detract from the character at all. He did more right than people give him credit for. Wonder Woman can be a huge success, they just have to stay true to her character, for the most part. From there they can tell almost any story.

Well, this is why DC started to mess with Wonder Woman’s costume;can you really take someone seriously if she is running around in a one piece swimsuit? That is why Josh Whedon, when he was attached to a possible film version, basicly tried to recreated her from the ground up and alter her outfit (which fandom really reacted negatively to). Some fans pointed to the Lord of the Rings as a possible play of WW’s Greek Mythology and having the movie be more like that. This is a tough character to crack and they’re gonna have to walk a very fine line to bring her into “reel life” without turning her into a preaching nun or an overly sexual sexpot or a ballsy truck driver chick.

Here is my take on the whole thing.
1. They need to be seriously careful about the costume design. The =w= is armor, not style. The Red bodice is not a simple cloth material but a girdle fashioned by Hephaestus. They can do shot shorts, but they would be best if the covered her whole butt, not like bikini bottoms or anything. Just make it look more realistic [e.g. toned down colors, tight fitting, but not styled for sex appeal, she is a warrior, not a model].

2. They should consider actresses who are tall. 5’7″ just will not cut it as she is none to stand out amongst average women. 5’10″ TO 6′ should bee the range. She is tall by definition. That said she should have some musce definition. While she carries a lot of beauty and sex appeal, I would rather see a woman who looks like she’s been trained to fight, not a super sexy heroine like Black Canary.

3. They need to account for her strength. I don’t care what stroy they want to tell, by definition, the character is far stronger than any human. She was made with near god strength. She is nearly as powerful as Superman, the difference is, she is not entirely invulnerable. Beyond that, the Woman can fight. She’s not just a heavy hitter, She is trained as a warrior with moves much more on par with the martial arts mastery of Batman. (not quite that high but she’s strong anyway)

4. She is multi-dimensional. She is an Amazon warrior princess from a world where the Greek pantheon is real and dominant. Pitted out in the real world to try to be an ambassador to man’s world there is a lot you can do with that. She has her own baddies to pound, but she also has to deal with coping with understanding what men are really like and any neew feelings that may arise. Whoever does the movie needs to look at some of DC’s comics and Animated movies (Not including the t.v. DCAU with JLU).

If they want to bring this character to life, I’m okay with creative liberty, but they need to consider who the character is: a 6′ tall amazon warrior princess, with a short temper at times and a mission to learn man’s world. Her character is meant to inspire, but that is not her mission until she decides to become Wonder Woman, as oppose to Princess Diana of Themyscira.

And please do not forget that she can fly. she may be an Amazon, but she is anything but human. She is made by the Gods and gifted with a portion of their powers and armor to be their champion in the patriarch’s world. Fan’s will have to CALM DOWN and let movie producers take some creative liberty for a real life movie adaptation. I just want them to remember who she is when they design her.

As I read these comments by obvious fans (for the most part) of Wonder Woman, it’s difficult to avoid the fact that those remarking upon her womanhood…are males.

Aside from WW’s appearance, what exactly makes her different from a man — even a superman?

Expounding upon her character, here is where the root of a (3-dimensional) female clings to her humanity: Wonder Woman is, I safely assume, a WOMAN after all; conditioned to do combat (think: Demi Moore in “GI JANE”) but still, and always…a woman.

Of course, if a film version of the comic book character is realized but intended for a salivating male demographic, yeah…right, what does it matter?

Most people commenting on her appearance are males and it’s sad. The moment she is no longer “i candy” guys say hey that’s not wonder woman. I say let the hero wear what works best for the story being told and let that be it. The complaints will come but if you make a great movie with a great character people will not mind a bit of a costume change for movies. People get too married to uniforms. Some people hate Superman’s new look. Personally I don’t like the collar on the New 52 Supes, but the Man of Steel suit is awesome. I do think that it is important that he keeps his red and blue and the S-shield stays and ‘S’, but otherwise, people should let creators create.

Its not that the costume doesn’t work or the actress’s look or any other excuse you can come up with. The biggest hurdle is the lack of vision when it comes to a storyline and then proper execution of that story into a movie. If it was her costume that was the problem, then Spider-Man, Superman, and Green Lantern would never work on screen either (Some may argue Green Lantern did not work on screen, but I digress).

Look at Kick Ass, cheesy costumes, no super powers, but they treated the ridiculous with sincerity and executed a good story into a great movie. Wonder Woman needs to be treated the same way.

And I liked the short, by the way. As a comic fan, it translated well for me. IMO…..

No question; without the proper storyline that will visually and emotionally arrive as an engrossing film, all talk of a potential Wonder Woman movie (or any film, for that matter) is…well, potential.

As for the short film…as with ANY film…I see good planning, hard work and solid effort. With no budget, I applied those same prerequisites in producing a short film and book trailer for my novel, BLACK RUSH. See: dreamerchant.com/blog

NOTE: Would it surprise me if fans got together (with some kickstart cash) and did a feature-length motion picture of Wonder Woman. Nope.

You are absolutely right! It all has to have a balance though. the 70s Superman had a bright and colorful[kinda cheesy] costume but it worked for what the movie was. A new, serious movie needs a new serious approach all around. The costume needs to have meaning and its design needs to match the tone of the movie. The character needs to be a wonder woman type. But at the end of the day, the story has to sell her character.

Nice article. This short was more of a Jesse Johnson and Co. resume than a fan short, but I am grateful that he shared it with us fans. I agree with your assessment that any WW film should not be predominately physical action (there should be some amount to show her bad-ass side), but it should focus on her using love to resolve conflicts and her “no kill” policy. For those that think this is corny, take note of the Harry Potter franchise where love was the theme in all the movies and it is a multi-billion dollar powerhouse.

Writer/Producers of a potential film should be referencing the comics for style and costume choices (For example they could do three short films – since she ages real slow, she lived through WWII and could be wearing a skirt as the first comic she is in introduces her, another short could show a 70′s look with pants i.e. Charlies Angles hair etc., then the last short could be her Zena/Roman/Greek look – she changes with each age that goes by). All the while she could be narrating a voice over i.e. Michael Westin Burn Notice style.

You know, this could work. Trade in the whole Nazi thing for a deeper storyline that expands on Wonder Woman’s unique mythos, ditch that stupid looking costume forever and replace it something a little more functional, get a decent-sized budget and…it could really work.

Something else: Quite frankly, I’ve been wondering why people can’t seem to get Wonder Woman off the ground. I mean, really, what is the hold-up? In my mind, it shouldn’t be that hard to get her right; She’s got PLENTY of story tell and there are a MILLION directors and actresses (well…not so many actresses) who could do her justice, so…why the hold-up?? Is it WB?? What??

I’m not a DC Fan, but I didnt grow up watching Linda Carter on tv as Wonder Woman. This female has a cute face, almost looks like the chic from the Sarah Conner Chronicles. Her Body is straight garbage. They need somoene more Amazonion physique-wise. Taller, much more athletic. Asking for someone built like Beyonce with a bigger chest is asking too much i know. But DC have to do something because all they have against marvel is batman

Honestly I found this to be a great idea…Just to get the creative juices flowing in hollywood so they can really make a better version of it for film. I personally prefer a strong physical and vastly intellegent wonder woman who would be dropped in a world unfamilar to her own…They could use this short as a guide to help mold the action sequences and plot points together into a really original and compelling story.

Maybe it’s because I do short films that I’m such a believer in their ability to raise viewer awareness for the possibility of a feature-length version but….

In the future (which could be now) studios will adopt (or adapt) the short-film concept/approach toward making expensive feature films, such as JUSTICE LEAGUE. These obvious “trial balloons” will either excite the moviegoing public about the visual possibilties or have them tune out. For what it presently cost to “develop” a film over an extended period, producing a short-film version of the idea might very well become a part of this process — and why not?

In a time when Greece was battling to build an identity (seeing the many ethnicity groups with different languages and cultures living in the Greek islands), Themyscira stood against it as a land with its own politics, culture, language and society. A society ruled by women.

Constant battles took place on the island. Themysciran blood was shed during ‘The Invasions’ by armies of Athenians, Turks… The land of Hippolyta, knowns overseas as the “Queen of the Amazons”, was perishing and her army was growing weaker.

But a legend would surface through the hands of a warrior who would change the fate of Themyscira and its people forever. A warrior believed by her people to be a direct descendant of the Gods. Her name was Diana of Themyscira.

——-

From that, they could make the “today” Diana be a direct descendant from Diana of Themyscira and NEVER saying that they are Gods, but BELIEVED, by the ancient, to be descendants of the Gods because she saved her island from the poor condition it was during “The Invasions”, maintaining always that kind of “mysticism” and “legend says…” in the air. We all know that a legend is built from a fact that may be very different from what legend says. That may contribute to make a WW movie more “grounded”.

Diana should be just a great warrior that would later be the head of the royal army of Themyscira. Then she could have had a daughter with a man and later after her death, Themyscira could be conquered by the Athenians, thus having all Amazon warriors be killed, except Diana’s daughter that would be led out of Themyscira and raised elsewhere as a warrior. And so on, until it reaches the modern era.
The today Diana could be elsewhere in the globe before going to the United States; she could go where she thinks it needs help the most, wandering through the globe; or even being raised in the United States and working as a soldier in the army or whatever else that relates to her “warrior tradition”.

This way we would solve Wonder Woman’s past once and for all and don’t touch it again, just keep the tradition of “daughter of daughter of daughter…” in whatever place or decade we find ourselves.

This way they could even have a great excuse to change her suit to the appropriate one according to the era we are. There were so many suits for WW that only a traditional linage of warriors through decades could explain so many changes!!lol